


Stardust

by Elveny



Series: Feels like Destiny [8]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Love, Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 12:11:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20425781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elveny/pseuds/Elveny
Summary: A collection of drabbles and prompts, of minifics and moments for my Jedi Knight Jiune and Theron that are too short to put into the actual series.





	1. Chocolate Cake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A memory of the first time they did an activity they love

“Like this?”

Small hands carefully stiring, a dash of chocolate powder streaked across her nose. She scrunches it up in concentration as she adds a bit more.

“Yes!” Her mother’s laugh, pearling through the air and making her eyes light up. “See? It’s getting all smooth and chocolatey. Now pour it in the tin. Carefully.”

The tip of her tongue sticks out between her lips as Jiune carefully lifts the bowl to pour the dough into the cake tin. It’s heavy, but she can feel her mother’s hands hovering behind her, ready to help if needed.

“Can I lick the rest of the dough from the bowl?” she asks when she is done, turning her eyes pleadingly back to her mother who chuckles.

“Are you kidding? That’s the best part of baking a cake.”

They sit on the kitchen floor in front of the oven where the chocolate cake is baking, the rain splattering against the window, hands full of dark sweetness and smiles on their faces.


	2. Nightfall

Jiune watched in silence as the shadows grew longer and deeper. Deep beneath her, the trees seemed nearly black before the sun had even touched the horizon as the mountains loomed over them. The sound of birds and crickets could faintly be heard in the forests, eyes glowing in the falling darkness, hooves walking on soft ground. The waterfalls nearly drowned them out but Jiune could feel them awaken all around her. All those little lives tugging at, flowing with and through the Force and she could feel them all. They were a net of tiny lights mirroring the stars in the skies above her, moving in quiet harmony. In the distance she saw the temple’s torches being lit, a warm beacon of wisdom and peace in the nightfall.

She had forgotten how much she loved this, the calm and quiet and light moments where she felt completely one with the Force, when she fell out of herself with ease, becoming just another one of the tiny flecks of life within the big stream. And yet it hadn’t been long ago that she wasn’t able to feel the harmony of it all. When the Force hadn’t been a peaceful stream but a cacophonous power, not carrying her but sweeping her away. She had used it as much as it had used her, to kill and subdue.

She took a shivering breath, the energy around her sizzling and surging as the memory of the last months threatened to overwhelm her. She had done unforgivable things and she knew, she _knew _that it was still within her. A part of her had feared that Tython would no longer welcome her, that the earth beneath her feet would crumble, the air feel wrong on her skin, the water turning brackish at her approach. The first moments after she had left the shuttle had been horrifying - but nothing had happened.

And now she was here. She was _home_.

Her breath deepened again as she closed her eyes, the air around her calming as her power shimmered around her, no longer dark but light. Tython had welcomed her back.


	3. Sunflare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A memory of a friend

It was just one of those moments that hit you unexpectedly. A flare from the rising sun behind the glittering orb of Nar Shaddaa as the shuttle approached, and suddenly, Jiune was thrown back in time.

“Home sweet home.”

She could nearly hear Kira’s voice next to her, both sarcastic and wistful as she looked down on the planet, and for a second, she felt like her friend would be here if she only turned. She would look at her with that twinkle in her eyes, and that half-smile, quickly trying to overplay an old hurt and not quite managing to hide it. And Jiune would touch her shoulder in unspoken support, and inevitably, they would find a bar that night.

It was always one of those moments when the grief hit her. It had been Kira who had introduced her to so many things; to being drunk, to losing herself in dance, to directness and bad jokes, and to a lightness of heart that did not come from meditation but unrestrained laughter. Officially, she had been Kira’s teacher, but in so many ways, she had been her pupil, too. She couldn’t count how often they had shared that _look _that only friends shared, one of unspoken understanding and amusement. Doc had more than once complained about it, but only managed to make them grin.

Stars, how she missed her.

“Commander?”

Jiune looked up, drawn from her memory, and took a deep breath. The space next to her where Kira had always been was dark and empty. She just hoped her friend was safe, wherever she was, and kept Scourge out of trouble.

“Yes. Ready to land.”


	4. Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three sentence fic

The steam from the hot cocoa in her cup curled slowly upwards, drawing swirls in the cold air, but its beauty was lost on Jiune who stood in the door, huddled in her warmest robes. A loud screech split the air before it splintered into joyful laughter, and Jiune chuckled, raising the cup to her lips and taking a careful sip as she watched her husband chase their daughter through the snow. “Gotcha, stardust!” Theron called out with a glee that was just as carefree as their child’s joy as he grabbed her and they tumbled laughing down into the snow.


	5. Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three sentence fic

“… kriffing sand everywhere and maybe someone could’ve sent this kriffing planet a memo that one sun is more than enough but nooo, we need two and have I mentioned that… what?” Theron interrupted his irritated, mumbled complaining when he caught the way Jiune looked at him with a secret smile hovering in the corner of her lips and amusement in her eyes. But her smile just widened and she picked an imaginary sand corn off his jacket in an excuse to touch him, to assure herself over and over again that he was here, at her side, never to leave again. 


	6. Candles

The door closed behind her with a barely audible swoosh, shutting out the angry noise and clutter of the Odessen base. For an endless moment she didn’t move, just staring at the dark room, her thoughts empty. It was long before she realized she stared at the stack of datapads he had left on the small table, next to an empty cup. They had left so suddenly, Lana’s urging to follow the lead so pressing that neither had thought of cleaning up, just grabbed the essentials before they had gone for the ship.

Had he been different? Had he been weird? Had there been something in him she had missed?

She couldn’t remember, couldn’t think of a moment where he had slipped. A little smile as he had shrugged into his jacket when she had looked up to find his eyes burning into hers. ‘It’s gonna be fine,’ he had said when he had seen the worry on her face, a kiss, soft on her lips before they went to meet Lana. He had been Theron, her Theron. Not a traitor.

Her movements were automatic as she finally managed to walk into the room, ignoring all the little signs that he had lived here with her. Her sabers fell to the ground, followed by her coat billowing in the air as it sank down, boots quickly unlaced and abandoned. Her fingers nimbly opened the braids that held her hair back when she was on a mission, the long, auburn strands falling freely over shoulders as she lit the candles and settled down to meditate.

_There must have been something,_ her thoughts screamed at the back of her mind as her lips silently formed the words that were supposed to bring her peace, to bring her solace.

_There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no emotion…_

The words faltered on the lie as more and more tears fell, dropping silently to the ground, onto her clenched fists.

_There must have been something._


	7. Traitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt "You think this troubles me?"

“It’s interesting, is it not?”

Theron leaned against the wall, arms crossed and looking decidedly bored.

“Not really,” he said dismissively. The soldier in front of him drew his eyebrows together as he pressed a button and gestured towards the frozen picture on the holo.

“You think her state of mind is not interesting? Not relevant? Really? I mean, look at her!”

The woman on the screen seemed so distant that she looked as if she didn’t really pay attention to the things around her. Her eyes were mostly cast down or turned away from any camera, her expression somber to a point that she looked sad.

‘No,’ Theron thought, ‘not sad. Devastated.’

His heart clenched as he saw her barely paying attention to the people and things around her. There was no smile for those in need of one and no calming look to others. Whenever she was in public, she was quick to get out of the cameras’ way, always focused on their mission with a concentrated determination that left little room for anything else. He only remembered one other time when she had been like that: back when she came back from her disappearance after the Jedi’s failed attempt to kill the Emperor. After she had freed herself from his mind control. It nearly killed him to see her like that, especially knowing that it was he who had caused this devastation.

Careful not to show his emotions he rolled his eyes and said, “What of it?”

“This is perfect. She’s playing right into our hands. Now that that nice, savior-like, smiling fake attitude is gone people will see her as the usurper she is. We’re gonna wipe her right out of this galaxy.” He gave Theron a sidelong look. “I just thought…” His voice trailed off as Theron finally deigned to look at him. His eyes were cold.

“You think this troubles me.” It wasn’t a question and the soldier took a step backward at the tone of his voice. Theron didn’t move a muscle, he didn’t have to as he held the man in his gaze, a deceptively casual hand on his blaster. “You think I care because of our history. You’re trying to bait me into exposing myself. Who put you up to this? GEMINI 16?”

The man held up his hands, suddenly very nervous. “I… we just…”

“I’d think very carefully about what you’re about to say.”

He swallowed and shut his mouth. Theron smiled coldly. “Smart choice. Now, why don’t you run along to the droid and tell her that if she thinks trying to kill the Commander _twice _wasn’t enough proof for her that I’m dedicated to our cause, I’m happy to try a third time if she’s so keen to waste my time and talents.”

Theron turned around without waiting for an answer but as he reached the door, he stopped, adding as if with an afterthought: “And don’t try something like this again.” Then he left.


	8. Nar Shaddaa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt "Can you feel this?"

Jiune didn’t see the hit coming and for once, her instincts were too slow to get her defense up in time. Red pain exploded in her face, then the world disappeared in a blurred swirl of motion and vertigo, a dull hit and then nothing. It was as if the universe just stopped existing for a while and then snapped back into reality with a hard, cold and sudden movement.

It took her even longer to understand what was happening and for a long, endless seeming minute all she could perceive was the high, whining sound of a dying turbine nearby that vibrated in her skull and random flashes of colorful light, blinking and screaming overhead. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warm darkness that hurt so much less than the glaring inferno of lasers and lights where a sky should be _(should there be a sky?)_ but as soon as she did, something told her to open them again.

Something that also kept screaming her name.

Or rather someone.

It took her another minute to combine the continuous buzz in her ear and the words that somehow echoed in her mind to form a voice. Jiune. Stay awake. Stay with me.

“Jiune!”

She blinked again, remembered to breathe, and despite the fact that her throat immediately began burning from the reeking smoke from a nearby fire it seemed to have been the last ingredient to whatever enabled her mind to work, albeit slowly.

“Theron,” she realized and the name brought his face back into focus as he hovered above her with an expression of panic and horror in his eyes.

As soon as she spoke his name, she felt his fingers close around her hand, painfully so and she winced. She didn’t hear his answer as the pain seemed to spread from her hand all through her body - not because it had been caused there but because it reawakened some nerve that had been dulled up to this moment and she suddenly became aware of the many shades of pain throughout her body. She must have made some sound because, in the next second, the pain in her hand stopped.

“By the Force, you’re alive. You’re back. When the speeder crashed into you and you…” The words stopped and Jiune realized that the pain in her body was short-lived - but while it had appeared suddenly, it’s disappearance was a process. But what Theron had said was enough to fill a major puzzle piece that had been missing in her mind and now the memory came back - of the short, unofficial day off that Theron and she had taken after his supposed “traitor” thing had blown up, of the collision that had come completely out of the blue and that had thrown her off her speeder. The sounds and lights of Nar Shaddaa’s streets surrounded them, a busy buzz that hadn’t been stopped by a mere accident. 

“I’m alright,” Jiune murmured and started to push herself upright, wincing again as the world started spinning and new sources of pain flared up. She obviously still looked befuddled enough that Theron started fussing again.

“Are you sure? Can you feel this?” He pressed a hand against her leg, her shoulder, her arm and she slowly nodded. “And this?” He took her hand again. Slowly, she caught up to reality again and took stock of her body. She was rattled and bruised but otherwise unhurt and the fogginess in her head subsided enough that she could connect to the Force again to draw some strength from it.

“Theron, I’m not hurt. It’s okay,” she assured him, pressing his hand in return. “What about the… other one? Who…?”

It took him a second to understand that she meant the driver of the other speeder and scowled towards a young Rodian who hovered nervously nearby, wringing their hands. “They’re fine.”

“Good,” Jiune gave the Rodian a smile who chattered an apology and inquiries before they took off with obvious relief as she waved them off. Then she looked back at Theron. “Help me up?”

“Of course.” He immediately put an arm around her waist, carefully supporting her as she stood up. It was such a familiar gesture as he stood next to her, his presence warm and beloved and yet, it was also so new after their long separation that she instinctively put her hand over his to hold him close. She was still getting used to having him back. It was a weird mixture of marveling at the ease with which they had fallen back into familiarity in so many ways and at the same time realizing how much effort she had put in being content alone. Sometimes she still had trouble believing that he really was back. She found herself waking in the night to assure herself that he was indeed laying next to her or finding an excuse from a meeting to go and find him. They needed this time just for themselves, duties be damned.

Theron realized she still stared at him and paused, his scowl at her dismissal of the Rodian morphing into renewed worry. “Jiune, are you really okay?” he asked again.

She put a hand on his cheek and smiled. He was here. They were together. “I really am.”


	9. Chocolate Cake

Theron came into the cantina to find a drink, to try and make sense of what had happened over the last few days. It was only a week since he had come back, been officially pardoned by the Commander. Since she had publicly declared that his undercover work had been invaluable, and there would be no charges against him. He slid into a booth in the darker parts of the cantina. It was a slow evening, no band or dancing people, just a few tables filled with the late-night crew who came here to calm down after a long day before turning in.

His hands closed around the glass in front of him, his shoulders hunched up. It was an unconscious habit he had adopted over the course of the last months, a sign of his ever-present tension. With an effort, he relaxed them, adopting a pose of effortlessness as his eyes wandered over the cantina. It had been a week of distrust, and fights, and welcome backs, of shoulder claps, and cold stares. Not everyone found it in themselves to forgive him so easily.

But it had also been a week of happiness and ease.

A smile curved the corner of his lips as he thought back to the way Jiune had fallen into his arms, to the eagerness and softness of her touches. She still loved him. It sounded fake when he thought about it, and he still couldn’t quite shake the disbelief from his heart. He had fully anticipated her rejection, but she was still there. Every night she had fallen asleep in his arms, and he in hers. Every time they saw each other, she came to him to touch him, as if to make sure he was really, truly there. He found himself staring at her at the most inopportune moments, trying to convince himself that she was indeed here. That he was back. With her.

Theron realized he had been staring at his glass for several minutes, a ridiculous, disbelieving grin on his face, without noticing what was going on around him.

The sound of breaking glass shook him out of his revery, and he appraised the situation around him with a quick look, his hand instinctively going to his blaster. When he saw the waiter calmly collect the broken glass with a furiously apologizing Nautolan behind him, he relaxed again.

“You’re still so tense.”

Her voice was soft, coming from behind him, and Theron swirled around. Jiune didn’t even flinch, just tilted her head, and he let out a breath as he took his hand off his weapon.

“Yeah, it’s… become a habit, I guess,” he said haltingly, giving her a little smile as she walked over and slid into the booth next to him.

“I know,” she just said. She took one of his hands in both of hers, intertwining her fingers with his as she looked at him. Her face was half hidden beneath a hood, probably to keep the people on the base from approaching her. A softness was in her eyes, a stray lock curling over her cheek.

“Weren’t you supposed to be on a mission today?” Theron asked, reaching to brush it away.

Jiune smiled at the caress, her face softening. “It was canceled. I don’t need to be the hero tonight.” She looked up at him with bright eyes. “I just need to be here.”

Theron relaxed even more, his fingers still on her cheek and his smile widened. “So we have the night to ourselves?” he asked softly. So far, most evenings had been filled with long meetings and debriefings, with barely enough time for them to realize that they were back together.

With a whispered “Yes,” Jiune leaned forward to brush her lips over his. It was a hesitant touch as if she wasn’t quite sure of it, soft and delicate. He could taste her breath on his face, and for a second, he could not move, enchanted, his eyes half-closed as he waited for her to close the last distance between them.

Her fingers tightened slightly around his, but she seemed to wait for something. Another soft touch of her lips, just enough to tease, but not enough to kiss. The tension between them seemed to sizzle as he breathed her in, the tip of his nose touching hers.

“What are you waiting for?” he whispered against her lips, her presence filling the space around him as if an embrace, and he felt his heart stumble. The sounds of the cantina vanished into the background, and he couldn’t have looked away from her if he tried as her eyes found his.

“You,” she answered, moving a bit closer towards him so he could feel the heat from her body next to him. Theron hummed softly at her proximity and saw her shiver slightly as his finger wandered from her cheek to her neck.

“You don’t have to wait for me,” he breathed, “I’m here. And nothing will ever change that again.”

Jiune smiled, her lips still hovering over his just so, then she suddenly drew back, her face lighting up as if she had a sudden idea. “Come away with me.”

Theron had trailed after her for a moment, chasing after that kiss that had never come, now he blinked in surprise. “What? Where?” he asked, but she just shrugged.

“I don’t know. I don’t care. To Rishi? Find that beach again, you know, the one with the weird guitar player?” There was a gleam in her eyes he had rarely seen, an excitement she seldom allowed herself. “Let’s go now, under cover of night, before anyone notices us.”

Theron stared at her, then he laughed. “You’re actually serious!”

“Yes!” She grabbed his hand more tightly. “Come away with me, Theron Shan, so we can just be with each other and nobody else for a while.” There was an insistence to her voice, a plea in her eyes. There were a million reasons why this was a bad idea. Lana would have a fit, there were more debriefings scheduled already, duties and missions and diplomatic calls and meetings ahead. And the journey to Rishi would take them ten days at least, not to mention…

But as he looked at her, he knew that none of these things mattered. He would defy the Alliance, the Republic, and the Empire to grant her such a wish.

“Alright,” he said, a grin spreading over his face. “Let’s do it.”


	10. Dust motes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CN: Pregnancy
> 
> For the prompt “No worries, we still have time”

The quiet, occasional beep in the cockpit was the only sound apart from the familiar, constant engine drone in the background. Outside, the blue haze of the hyperspace tunnel rushed by in a continuous, calming wave. They had dimmed the lights for their night cycle and Theron enjoyed a few hours alone in the peaceful atmosphere while Jiune slept. He read up on a few reports that Lana had sent him “to keep him in the loop” but for once he managed to actually do it without any pressure behind it. Jiune had once jokingly said that this sort of work - reading reports and making notes in the middle of the night with a steaming hot cup of caf next to him - was his way of meditating and he suspected she wasn’t wrong. It calmed him definitely more than not knowing what was going on. Or sitting on his butt until his legs and back hurt.

After a last check on the autopilot, Theron was just about to put the data pads away when he heard a sound that made him jump up immediately. Without even noticing the clatter of the datapad falling to the ground he rushed towards the small room where he and Jiune slept. He found her standing next to the bed, one hand propped against the wall for support. The other hand rested on the big curve of her belly. The pregnancy had given a softness to her features that made her seem younger and that not even the slight, pained frown he could see could take away. Her face was a calm mask of concentration but he could sense that she was far from fine. Just as he hurried to her side, another pained groan escaped her and Theron’s eyes widened in panic.

“Oh kriff. Is it time? It’s time, isn’t it? Dammit, I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to a five-day trip,” he said as he flung an arm around her to support her. “Should I get the med droid? Do you want me to… what do you need?” he asked, forcing the panic out of his voice as he went through everything he had read and heard to prepare for this day. Med droid first, then he definitely should get the bag they had packed from the storage and - what planet was the next one they could reach? He would have to -

“Theron,” Jiune interrupted his racing train of thought, an amused note to her voice. Her cool fingers found his as she leaned against him. “Calm down. It’s not time. She just has a knack to find the same rib over and over again in her little training exercises. I thought it would help to walk around a bit, but she didn’t like that at all.”

She watched him with a smile as he let out a breath. “I swear, I’m only going to be able to sleep again once we’re on Tython,” he murmured as he helped her back on the bed and Jiune chuckled.

“No worries, my love. We still have time. More than enough time,” she said as she settled back against the pillows with a content sigh. She had insisted to go back to Tython for the birth and they still had three weeks to spare until the approximate date but Theron had been a bundle of nerves ever since they had started their journey. He seemed to be even more nervous than she was and insisted on taking care of everything while they were underway. Not that she complained - while the pregnancy had been an easy one, now that it reached its end, she tired more easily than she had thought possible. And her daughter had a definite dislike to her walking around too much that she showed by excessive kicking.

“You say that like it’s a certainty.” Theron kissed his wife on the temple and let his hand wander lovingly over her swollen belly. A faint flutter against his hand made him smile as his soon-to-be-born daughter greeted him.

“That’s because I’m certain,” Jiune shrugged and grimaced as another kick to her rib sent another wave of pain through her.

“Ouch. Even I could feel that,” Theron stated with sympathy and put his other hand where he had felt the kick. “Hey, little one, are you torturing your mother again?”

As if in answer, the baby kicked once more and then settled down. Jiune let out a breath as the pain subsided. “She only does it when you’re not near.” Her voice was a bit too casual and Theron grew quiet, a familiar old pain echoing through his heart. It was in moments like this that the old scars of their relationship were felt the most. The forced or voluntary absences, the not-knowing if the other one was coming back or even still alive had taken their toll. It was part of why they had left Odessen to go to Tython - to be only with each other for a while. To have the chance to become a family without Lana or Senya or Koth or Arcann or any of the others coming in “just to visit” and then end up talking business in spite of themselves. There were no missions that were supposed to take only half a day and turned into a week-long trip because of some unforeseen circumstance.

He raised a hand to Jiune’s face, caressing her cheek. “I’m here,” he murmured and she turned her face slightly to lean into his caress. “I know,” she answered quietly and gave him a small but open smile.

“You hear that, little one?” Theron said more loudly and kissed the place where the baby had kicked. “We’re both here. And we always will be.”

His eyes burned with emotion as he looked at Jiune. “I promise.”

Jiune’s fingers interlaced with his to pull him close. As she settled into his embrace with a content sigh, she repeated quietly, “I promise.”


End file.
